Christmas
As part of our spanish lessons, we have been discussing many things about Ecuador, and about Baños. Our teacher Marcello, grew up in Quito and then moved to Baños many years ago. One of the things we have been visiting about is the Christmas Season and the culture that surrounds it here. On the surface Christmas is celebrated in much the same way as in the US. Decorations go up in neighborhoods and businesses. Stores are starting to advertise items on sale for Christmas. The commerciality of the season is every bit as apparent as it is at home in Wyoming. It's all about the gifts. People talk about the birth of the Savior, but it seems only to shove it in the faces of those who don't. (That whole "Merry Christmas" vs "Happy Holidays" mess)
The malls in the larger cities like Quito and Ambato look almost exactly like the ones in the states. We wandered through the mall in Ambato last week when we were there working on our Visas. Although similar in appearance, there is a rather large difference in the price of items for sale. That Kitchen-Aid mixer that you paid $300.00 for in the US costs $650.00 here. A hand mixer was around $75.00 and a cheap toaster oven was almost $100.00. Glass baking dishes were $35-60.00. An iPhone sells for almost triple the price in the US, and Brand Name clothing is also more expensive than in the US.
It will be interesting to see the rest of his commentary on Christmas play out. In Ecuador, the average wage is less than $2.00 per hour. A teacher makes less than $6000.00/year. An attorney makes about $12,000. A head grounds keeper makes about $5000.00. So how does this mesh with with prices of all the junk that everybody wants?? I imagine it is similar in the United States but much more pronounced here.
Those who can afford to indulge spend huge amounts of money because Christmas has become all about the gifts. Many in the middle who can't afford to pay for things up front can finance most anything, similar to putting items on a credit card in the US. The difference is that there are set payments and the interest is added in up front, so that even if the items are paid for the next month, the interest for the full period still must be paid. (Almost everything in Ecuador is available this way. We even noticed those cheap plastic lawn chairs selling like this. The price tag shows the large price of $1.00. Thats not the price of the chair, it is the monthly price. The price of the chair is $8.00 and is noted very small on the bottom corner of the price tag!! The chair sells for 12 monthly payments of $1.00.) As in the US, many people go into debt for Christmas, oftentimes barely getting the last Christmas paid off before the next one begins.
The last group of people is the largest group in Ecuadaor. They are those who wish to participate in all the worldly things of Christmas but who are very poor. According to Marcello, these are the people who line the streets with there hands out saying "Navidad". They think they are entitled to stand there and ask for gifts and that the saying "Navidad" is acceptable. Our troubles in the US are simply amplified here. How did things go so wrong!!??? How did the Ecuadorians end up in this mess??? I would guess our great nation had a bit to do with it. People around the world covet everything about us. They covet our clothes, our music, our technology, and our lifestyle. Our music has been used as an example in many church services (not in a good way) that I have attended. The loss of family values and all that is good and right are linked by pastors directly to things that we as Americans produce. They do not blame us, but they do say that people follow the US regardless and they pray for the US to turn back to Christ and to stop turning out trash music and movies. They pray that we would go back to the country that made people want to be like us in the first place. I pray the same thing.
As many of you know from my blogs, the huge majority of Ecuador identifies with the Catholic religion. Some are folks who never go to church but there parents are Catholic so they call themselves the same. Some are lukewarm Catholics, adopting whatever beliefs into there lives that fit with how they want to live. Some are extremely devout, even crawling to church as penance for sins. During the Christmas season all 3 groups participate heavily in the rituals of Christmas in the Catholic church. It's all about "Baby Jesus" and "Mary the Mother of God". There is nothing about the celebration of the birth of a savior, nothing about the fullfilment of Old Testament prophecy. In Ecuador, as in many parts of the US, they believe that Mary never sinned, that we must go through her to get to God, and that she basically runs the show. The religious celebration centers around the worship of them as idols, not of Christ as God.
In Spanish class we talked about the changes in Marcello's celebration of Christmas as well as the changes in our own beliefs regarding the season. Our homework this week is for us to write a paper in Spanish on our past and present views of Christmas. Will post a bit of that next week.
